Bucks Tonight, Lottery Soon

Yesterday A-Dub said that now that Jose Calderon’s injured, we’ll have a chance to “evaluate Jerryd Bayless and Gary Forbes as potential point guards for this team”. My reaction.

Three things left to do this season:

1. Check if Bargnani’s first 13 games are for real. Thrusting him into the starting lineup was a little surprising, and even tonight’s game is coming too soon for him. Let’s begin his evaluation in a week or so when he’s had a few games under his belt. Over the next two weeks, the Raptors have five sets of back-to-backs so he’s going to get plenty of burn. More than his jumper, keep an eye on his approach to the game. Will he remain as aggressive as he was earlier in the season, or will he revert to his old self. Please be the former so I can say this season did something for us.

2. Do something about Calderon and Barbosa. I want to believe they have value on the market, and that Calderon’s injury from last night didn’t just kill any hopes of trading him for something that can be used when we’re ready to contend. LOL, I can’t even keep a straight face when typing that. Dark days ahead my friend, dark days. If you looked at this season as revealing some gems on the roster, you’ll have been sadly disappointed, and the fact that we’re talking about trading Calderon and Barbosa to acquire “assets” is quite weak. The assets were supposed to be DeRozan, Davis, and Bayless, not a first rounder we might acquire.

3. Figure out if DeRozan is an adequate enough shooting guard that you don’t have to address this position as well in the off-season. We’re OK at C with Jonas (for now), let’s assume PF is taken care off through Bargnani, and we know that PG and SF are massive issues that need addressing. Nobody’s quite talking about the SG because we’re sort of assuming DeRozan will carry the torch. That assumption needs to be questioned after this season, maybe the franchise can afford to give him another year to find himself before picking up his qualifying offer, but no more.

Right now the Raptors will have one draft pick, a high one, and the top part of the draft is PF/C heavy. As of right now, you have to say the Raptors should target the talent at the three with Harrison Barnes or MKG, as presently the roster is devoid of potential in that position (no disrespect to JJ or Kleiza). If the PG is to be targeted, Damian Lillard and Kendall Marshall are projected to be late lottery, mid-first selections, and a second pick would need to be acquired. If you’re weary of drafting a PG since it’s the toughest position to learn, look no further than Brandon Knight last night. Of course, the safer option is to acquire a readymade PG, but those aren’t exactly available. More than anything sometimes, I feel the Raptors need a free-agent win, not a Hedo type win, a real win. Like a Deron Williams type win.